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Ruth Coker Burks (RCB): How did you feel when you found out he had AIDS?

Jim Harwood (JH): Well, I was flabbergasted. It’s something that, you know, only happens to somebody else, not to you.

RCB: Right.

JH: And then, uh, I think he knew that he was not going to get any better, and uh, he wanted to come home, be with his family. So he quit his job and came home.

RCB: I’ve worked with over a thousand people, and you’re one of only three who did not abandon their children when they were dying.

JH: I find that absolutely amazing, surprising and, and a terrible fact. I can’t imagine anyone deserting a child for any reason.

RCB: I’ve had pharmacists absolutely refuse to order medication. And when I would take people with AIDS into the pharmacy to sign, they would go, ”You can keep the pen.” And I ended up with an entire coffee can of ink pens because they would say, ”We don’t want it.”

JH: It was like, you know, leprosy or the Bubonic plague…

RCB: Yeah.

JH: …at that time. Just sort of like the kiss of death. You hope, that’s all you can do.

RCB: Right. Y’all have just been so dear to me and I’ve thought about you through the years. Of all the people, y’all always came to mind. You were so brave, and you had so much love. I would’ve loved to have been your child.